Cloud computing refers to providing computing and electronic storage as a service to a group of end-users. Typically, end-users access cloud computing based applications through a web browser, a remote or lightweight desktop, or a mobile application. In general, cloud computing provides computer implemented services while storing and executing a user's data and software over a network. A common embodiment of cloud computing is software as a service (SaaS).
A benefit of cloud computing includes running processor-intensive applications from a remote server that has more processing power than a typical client device. Also, cloud computing provides for improved manageability of software, since the software can be managed at one computational node of a network as opposed to managing it at multiple end-user client devices. This is especially useful considering fluctuation and specialization of software today.
In short, cloud computing takes advantage of sharing resources to achieve consistency and economies of scale over a network.